ICARUS User Manual

Installation

ICARUS is delivered as a digital download. After purchase, Lemon Squeezy emails you a download link for the installer.

macOS

1. Download the macOS installer from your purchase email.
2. Open the installer and follow the on-screen steps.
3. Restart your DAW and rescan plugins if ICARUS does not appear.

Windows

1. Download the Windows installer from your purchase email.
2. Run the installer and choose your plugin folder if prompted.
3. Restart your DAW and rescan plugins if ICARUS does not appear.

Activation

Your licence key is issued by Lemon Squeezy immediately after purchase and included in your receipt email.

1. Open ICARUS in your DAW or in standalone mode.
2. When prompted, paste your licence key into the activation window.
3. Confirm — activation completes in seconds with an internet connection.

Lost your key? Lemon Squeezy's order lookup can resend your receipt, or contact admin@icarengine.com.

Licence

ICARUS is licensed, not sold. One purchase covers personal use by a single user; music you make with ICARUS is 100% yours, royalty-free, forever — including commercial releases.

• Full terms are in the End User Licence Agreement.
• Licences may not be resold or shared publicly.
• Number of simultaneous machine activations: To be confirmed before release.

Oscillators

ICARUS generates sound from four oscillator engines that can run together in a single voice.

Wavetable A & B

Two morphing wavetable oscillators. Key controls: Position scans through the table, Warp bends the waveform, and Unison stacks detuned copies for width. Both oscillators have independent pitch, level and pan.

Additive

A 64-partial additive oscillator. Edit partial levels directly in the Additive Editor, or reshape the whole spectrum with the Tilt, Comb and Scatter transforms. Detune partials away from the harmonic series for bell and metallic tones.

Granular

Load a sample and set Grain Size, Density, Spray and Pitch Scatter. The playhead position can be modulated — assign an orbit to it for constantly shifting textures, or engage Freeze to sustain a single instant.

Character

Per-voice colour stages: Analog (drift and saturation), Tape (wow, flutter and softness) and Crush (bit and rate reduction). One amount control each.

Orbital Engine

The Orbital Engine is ICARUS's signature modulation system. Modulators are bodies in orbit: each body's position in the field is translated into a control signal you can route anywhere in the matrix.

Core controls

• Speed — how fast a body completes an orbit. Sync to tempo divisions or run free.
• Distance — orbital radius; larger orbits produce slower, wider modulation sweeps.
• Phase — the body's starting position, for offsetting multiple orbits.
• Eccentricity — stretches circular orbits into ellipses for uneven, breathing motion.

Because orbit parameters are themselves modulation targets, orbits can modulate other orbits — this is where ICARUS patches develop long, non-repeating evolution.

Gravity

Gravity warps the orbital field. The Mass control sets the strength of the central attractor: at zero, orbits are perfect and repeating; as mass increases, orbits deform, accelerate near the centre and generate sharper modulation curves.

• Mass — overall field strength, from subtle drift to slingshot chaos.
• Attractors — place additional gravity points anywhere in the field.
• Damping — smooths the resulting modulation signal.

Gravity chaos is deterministic: the same patch always recalls the same behaviour, so wild patches stay reproducible in your projects.

Modulation Matrix

The Matrix page connects every modulation source to every destination. Each slot has:

• Source — orbits, gravity outputs, envelopes, LFOs, motion lanes, macros, MIDI (velocity, aftertouch, mod wheel, MPE).
• Destination — any continuous parameter in the instrument, including other matrix depths.
• Depth — bipolar amount with a right-click reset.
• Curve — linear, exponential, logarithmic or S-curve response.

Active routes show live signal metering so you can see exactly what is moving a parameter at any moment.

FX

The FX page hosts a re-orderable chain. Drag units to reorder; each has its own bypass and mix.

• Space — plate and shimmer reverbs, spectral and tape delays.
• Motion — chorus, ensemble, phaser and flanger.
• Weight — multiband upward/downward compression, drive, distortion and a synth-tuned compressor.

Every FX parameter is a modulation destination, so orbits and macros can play the effects as part of the patch.

Presets

The preset browser organises sounds by type (Bass, Lead, Pad, Atmosphere, Sequence, Texture) and by engine focus (Orbital, Additive, Granular, Hybrid). Tag favourites, search by name and save your own patches with author and description fields.

Performance

Performance features live on the front panel so they are always in reach:

• Scenes — store complete panel states and switch or morph between them mid-performance.
• Macros — eight assignable knobs, each driving unlimited destinations with independent ranges. MIDI-learn with one click.
• Chord memory — capture a voicing and trigger it from single keys.
• Latch — hold notes hands-free for drones and evolving beds.
• Motion lanes — record control gestures and loop them in sync with your DAW.

Troubleshooting

ICARUS doesn't appear in my DAW

• Rescan your plugin folders in the DAW's plugin manager.
• Confirm the installer completed and your DAW targets the same plugin folder.
• Quit and reopen the DAW after installation.

Activation fails

• Check the licence key for typos — copy and paste it whole from your receipt email.
• Confirm your internet connection is active during activation.
• If the key reports as already used, contact support with your order number.

Audio glitches or high CPU

• Increase your audio buffer size in the DAW's audio settings.
• Reduce unison voice counts or freeze/bounce finished parts.
• Close other CPU-heavy plugins while sound designing.

No sound

• Check the master volume and that at least one oscillator engine is enabled.
• Confirm MIDI is reaching the instrument (the keyboard display responds to input).
• Load a factory preset to rule out a patch-specific routing issue.

Support

Can't find the answer here? We're happy to help.

• Email: admin@icarengine.com
• Include your order number, operating system and DAW for the fastest response.
• Purchases, receipts and licence keys are handled by Lemon Squeezy.